Robben Island

Unesco declared Robben Island in the Western Cape a World Heritage Site in 1999. Robben
Island is located in Table Bay, some 6km west of Bloubergstrand, and stands some 30m above
sea level. Robben Island has been used as prison and a place where people were isolated,
banished and exiled to for nearly 400 years. It was also used as a post office, a grazing ground, a
mental hospital and an outpost.
Initially the island was inhabited by a variety of wild life, including birds, penguins, seals and
tortoises. Its name "robben" is derived from the Dutch, meaning a seal. It also had a plentiful
supply of fresh water available from a number of springs. Batolomeu Dias, the Portuguese
explorer, 'discovered' the island in 1488 when he anchored his ship in Table Bay.
Before 1652, In place of dealings with the indigenous residents on the mainland, most visiting
ships to Table Bay preferred to land on Robben Island to replenish their supplies of fresh water
and meat. As a result it also became a major point for the exchange of mail, where letters from
an outgoing ship would be left underneath an inscribed stone for collection and delivery by a
home-going vessel. This continued after Jan van Riebeeck arrived at the Cape in 1652, as he had
to settle a station where ships that were travelling from Europe to the East Indies, he did not
want to stop on the mainland, could get fresh food and water. There were plenty of seals,
tortoises and penguins for hunting. The Dutch also began to use the island as a grazing station
for sheep and cattle.

Prisoners lined up on arrival at Robben Image source

However, the islands potential as a convict station did not go unnoticed, and in about 1671 the
Dutch began to place their convicted criminals upon it. It was only a matter of time before this
courtesy was extended to political prisoners and other "undesirables" banished to the Cape
from other Dutch colonies. In fact the Dutch government sent kings, princes and religious
leaders from the East Indies to Robben Island as prisoners because they did not agree with the
Dutch rule in their country.
When the British annexed the Cape in 1806 they continued this practice. During the first British
occupation of the Cape, from 1795 to 1802, whaling activities were begun in Table Bay, and
after their return in 1806 a whaling station was located on Robben Island. However it soon
became apparent that this offered convicts an easy escape route, and it was closed down in
1820.
In 1812 the first attempt was made to use the island as an asylum for the mentally ill, and in
1843 the Colonial Secretary, John Montagu, put forward a plan to use it as a colony for lepers,
paupers, the mentally unfit and the chronically ill. The plan also provided for the removal of the
penal colony to the mainland where convict labour could be used more productively on
government projects, such as road-building. This plan was accepted and by 1845 the island had
become a home for the Colony's unwanted and unloved, those deemed to be 'mentally ill' in
those days could include the homeless, alcoholics, people who were to sick or old to work and
prostitutes with sexually transmitted diseases. Those unfortunates were often subjected to
treatment, which was unhealthy and inhumane even by the standards of that time, and
conditions on the island became the subject of constant complaint from progressive clergy and
medical staff. Although some improvements were implemented over time, the island's lazaretto
was only closed down in 1931.
The lighthouse on Robben Island was commissioned in January 1865. The circular tower,
designed by the Colonial Engineer, John Scott Tucker, was built in stone quarried locally, and
stood 18m high. The 1875 census indicated that Robben Island had a population of 552. In 1891
this number had risen to 702, and by 1904 it stood at 1,460.

Aerial view of Robben Island with Table Mountain in the background.

After 1931 all the 'patients' were sent to hospitals in the Cape and the island began to be used
as a military outpost before WW II. Guns were stored there and the government built roads, a
power station, a new water supply and houses.
In 1961 it started being used as a prison again. During apartheid many Black people were kept
on Robben Island as political prisoners. Former President Nelson Mandela was kept there. The
prison internationally notorious for its harsh conditions and when the political prisoners of the
apartheid government were released Robben Island became a symbol of the strength of the
human spirit.
Robben Island was declared a World Heritage Site because the buildings on the island are a
reminder of its sad history and because the same buildings also show the power of the human
spirit, freedom and the victory of democracy over oppression.

https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/robben-island

Comprehension questions
Read the article from sahistory.org.za and answer the questions which follow.
1. Where is Robben Island located?
2. What has the island historically been used as?
3. Explain the etymology of the island’s name (Why is it called that?).
4. Refer to the sentence: “Batolomeo Dias, the Portuguese explorer, 'discovered' the island in 1488
when he anchored his ship in Table Bay.” (paragraph 2)
a) Which punctuation mark is used by the author?
b) Why do you think the source, sahistory.org.za, uses this punctuation? Which message are they
trying to convey through the use of this punctuation?
5. Give four different reasons why the island was useful to the Dutch in the period before 1652.
6. When was the island first used as a prison? Why do you think the Dutch police in the Cape used the
island as a prison, as opposed to other possible locations?
7. Correct the apostrophe error in paragraph 4.
8. Consider the word “undesirables” (paragraph 4) and your answer to question 4.
a) Why does the author choose to use this punction mark? What does this suggest about the
author’s attitude towards this word?
b) Which sort of people could have been considered as being “undesirables” by the Dutch
colonists at the time? Name at least three different groups of people.
c) Where are the “East Indies” located today? (Use your own knowledge)
d) Why were political prisoners from the East Indies sent to the island?
9. Consider the sentence “When the British annexed the Cape in 1806 they continued this practice.”
Which “practice” is the author referring to here?
10. Did the British continuously occupy the Cape after 1795?
11. Refer to the word “whaling”. What does this word mean? What do you know about the history of
whaling, and why was this practice carried out on the island?
12. Read the sentence: “In 1812 the first attempt was made to use the island as an asylum for the
mentally ill…” What do you think the conditions in asylums were like at the time?
13. Provide definitions for the words “leper” and “pauper”.
14. Provide a more polite synonym (euphemism) for the words “mentally unfit”.
15. Consider the sentence: “The plan also provided for the removal of the penal colony to the mainland
where convict labour could be used more productively on government projects, such as road-building.”
How do you think that this plan motivated the government at the time to imprison more people?
16. Which people were considered “mentally ill” by the colonial government? Would these people be
considered mentally ill today?
17. Why did progressive clergy members and medical staff complain? Does this fit with your answer in
question 12? (It is absolutely fine if it does not!)
18. “Although some improvements were implemented over time, the island's lazaretto was only closed
down in 1931.” Based on the context, what do you think a “lazaretto” refers to?
19. The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife is set in the early 20th century. Based on this, approximately how many
people (inmates and staff) lived on the island at the time of the play?
20. Why do you think the inmates were sent to the mainland in 1931?
21. Drawing on your knowledge of world events in the 20th century, why did the island’s primary use
change in the 1930s?
22. Which famous prisoners were housed on Robben Island? (You will have to draw on some of your
own knowledge here as well).
23. Consider the last sentence: “Robben Island was declared a World Heritage Site because the buildings
on the island are a reminder of its sad history and because the same buildings also show the power of
the human spirit, freedom and the victory of democracy over oppression.” Based on your knowledge of
the history of the island, why do you think it is considered as such?